[Adopted 12-31-1975 as Ch. VII of the 1975 Code]
For the purposes of this article, the following
definitions shall apply:
A domesticated animal (other than a disability assisted animal)
kept for amusement or companionship.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961; amended 6-19-2006 by Ord. No. 1540]
Any person or agency designated or certified by the State
of New Jersey to enforce the provisions of this article.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Any member of the domestic feline species, male or female,
or altered.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Any cat which has attained the age of seven (7) months, or
which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein cats for sale are kept or displayed.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Any dog, bitch or spayed bitch.
Any dog which has attained the age of seven (7) months or
which possesses a set of permanent teeth.
Any establishment wherein or whereon the business of boarding
or selling dogs or cats or breeding dogs or cats for sale is carried
on, except a pet shop.
The agency or department of the Borough of River Edge or
any designated representative thereof charged with administering the
issuance and/or revocation of permits and licenses under the provisions
of this article.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Having been rendered permanently incapable of reproduction
as certified by a licensed veterinarian.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
When applied to the proprietorship of a dog or cat, shall
include every person having a right of property in such dog or cat
and every person who has such dog or cat in his keeping.
Any individual, corporation, partnership, organization or
institution commonly recognized by law as a unit.
[Added 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Any room or group of rooms, cage or exhibition pen, not part
of a kennel, wherein dogs or cats for sale are kept or displayed.
An establishment for the confinement of dogs or cats seized
either under the provisions of this article or otherwise.
Excludes any building porches and parts thereof.
Any establishment where dogs or cats are received, housed
and distributed without charge.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former definition for "vicious
dog," which immediately followed this definition, was deleted 12-16-1996
by Ord. No. 1172.
[Amended 5-14-1975 by Ord. No. 639]
A.
The owner of any newly acquired dog or cat of licensing
age or of any dog or cat which attains licensing age shall make application
for a license and registration tag for the dog or cat within ten (10)
days after such acquisition or age attainment.
B.
Any dog brought into the territorial limits of the
Borough from another municipality of the state, having been licensed
and registered in such other municipality, may be kept in the Borough
without an additional license until January 31 of the succeeding year.
[Amended 4-5-1976 by Ord. No. 660; 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
A.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a dog of
licensing age within the territorial limits of the Borough shall,
in the month of January of each year, apply for and procure from the
Borough Clerk a license and official metal registration tag for each
dog so owned, kept or harbored and shall place upon each such dog
a collar or harness with the registration tag securely fastened thereto.
B.
Any person who shall own, keep or harbor a cat of
licensing age shall, in the month of January of each year, apply for
and procure from the Borough Clerk or other official designated by
the governing body to license cats in the Borough a license and official
registration tag with the license number, or a registration sleeve
for each cat so owned, kept or harbored, and shall place upon such
cat a collar or other device with the license securely fastened thereto.
[Amended 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
Applications for dogs and cats shall have the
following requirements:
A.
The application for any dog shall state the breed,
sex, age, color and markings of the dog for which the license and
registration are sought and whether it is of a long- or short-haired
variety, the name, street and post office address of the owner and
the person who shall keep or harbor such dog. The application shall
also list any tattoo or other body marking applied to the dog for
identification purposes.
B.
As to any cat, the application shall state the breed,
sex, age, color and markings of the cat for which the license and
registration are sought, the date of its vaccination against rabies,
the name and address of the licensed veterinarian who vaccinated the
cat and a copy of the vaccination certificate or its number, whether
the cat is of a long- or short-haired variety and the name, street
and post office address of the owner and the person who shall keep
or harbor such cat. The application shall also list any tattoo or
other body marking applied to the cat for identification purposes.
No person shall own, keep, harbor or maintain any cat of licensing age within the Borough, unless such cat is vaccinated and licensed. All cats shall be vaccinated against rabies by a licensed veterinarian in accordance with the latest Compendium of Animal Rabies Vaccines and Recommendations for Immunization published by the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, except as provided in § 122-5B herein below.
A.
Vaccination certificate. A certificate of vaccination
shall be issued to the owner of each animal vaccinated on a form recommended
by the State of New Jersey.
B.
Exemptions. The provisions of this section do not
apply to cats held in a cattery or those held by a state or federal
licensed research facility or a veterinary establishment wherein cats
are received or kept for diagnostic, medical, surgical or other treatments,
or licensed animal shelters, pounds, kennels, or pet shops. Furthermore,
any cat may be exempted from the requirements of such vaccination
for a specified period of time by the Board of Health, upon presentation
of a veterinarian's certificate stating that, because of an infirmity
or other physical condition or regimen of therapy, the inoculation
of such cat shall be deemed inadvisable.
[Amended 4-5-1976 by Ord. No. 660; 1-19-1981 by Ord. No. 780; 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961; 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
The person applying for the license and registration
tag shall pay a fee for each dog or cat as set forth in the Borough
Fee Schedule, adopted by resolution of the Borough Council, on file
in the office of the Borough Clerk. Licenses and registration tags
shall expire on January 31 in each year. All fees shall be used for
the collecting, keeping and disposing of dogs and cats. The Borough
Council may, however, appropriate a portion of the money received
from cat license fees to be used as a subsidy for cat spaying for
residents of River Edge.
[Amended 4-5-1976 by Ord. No. 660; 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
A.
Dogs used as guides for blind persons, commonly known
as "Seeing Eye dogs," dogs used to assist handicapped persons, commonly
known as "service dogs," or dogs used to assist deaf persons, commonly
known as "hearing dogs," shall be licensed and registered as other
dogs hereinabove provided for, except that the owner or keeper of
such dog shall not be required to pay any fee therefor.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
B.
Any dog brought into the territorial limits of the
Borough from another municipality of the State of New Jersey, having
been licensed and registered in such other municipality, may be kept
in the Borough without an additional license until the last day of
January of the succeeding year.
[Amended 5-2-1988 by Ord. No. 961]
No person, except an officer in the performance
of his duties, shall remove a registration tag from the collar of
any dog or cat without the consent of the owner, nor shall any person
attach a registration tag to a dog or cat for which it is not issued.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
For regulations regarding vicious dogs, see
N.J.S.A. 4:19-17 et seq.
A.
License required. Any person who keeps or operates
or proposes to establish a kennel, a pet shop, a shelter or a pound
within the Borough shall apply to the Borough Clerk for a license
entitling him to keep or operate such establishment.
B.
Application information. The application therefor
shall describe the premises where the establishment is located, or
is proposed to be located, and purpose or purposes for which it is
to be maintained, and shall be accompanied by the written approval
of local health and municipal authorities showing compliance with
the local and state rules and regulations governing location of and
sanitation at such establishment.
C.
License term. All licenses issued for a kennel, pet
shop, shelter or pound shall state the purpose for which the establishment
is maintained, and all licenses shall expire on June 30 of each year.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
D.
License fee. The annual license fee for a kennel providing
accommodations for 10 or fewer dogs or cats shall be $10, and for
more than 10 dogs or cats, $25. The annual license fee for a pet shop
shall be $10. No fee shall be charged for a shelter or pound.
E.
Compliance with state regulations. All licenses shall
be subject to revocation by the municipality on recommendations of
the State Department of Health or the local Department of Health for
failure to comply with the rules and regulations of the state Department
or local Department governing the same, after the owner has been afforded
a hearing.
F.
Control of animals off premises. No dog or cat kept
in a kennel, pet shop, shelter or pound shall be permitted off such
premises, except on leash or in a crate or other safe control.
The Chief of Police shall promptly before September
1 of each year cause a canvass to be made of all dogs and cats owned,
kept or harbored within the Borough in accordance with the provisions
of N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.15.
A.
Enforcing official; causes for impounding. An official appointed by the Mayor and Council, the Animal Warden, if the position is created, or, in the absence of such officials, the Chief of Police shall take into custody and impound or cause to be taken into custody and impounded and thereafter destroyed or offered for sale as provided in Subsection D:
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
(1)
Any dog or cat off the premises of the owner or of
the person keeping or harboring the dog or cat which the official
or his agent or agents have reason to believe is a stray dog or cat.
(2)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring the dog or cat without a current registration
tag on his collar or harness.
(3)
Any female dog in season off the premises of the owner
or of the person keeping or harboring the dog.
(4)
Any dog off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring the dog which is not securely and completely
muzzled or on a leash in the hands of a person able to control the
dog.
(5)
Any vicious dog off the premises of the owner or of
the person keeping or harboring the dog which is not muzzled and on
a leash in the hands of a person able to control the dog.
(6)
Any cat off the premises of the owner or of the person
keeping or harboring the cat on complaint of the police or of the
resident of the premises to which the cat has strayed.
(7)
Any cat which the enforcing official has substantial
reason to believe is abandoned, diseased or injured.
B.
Access to premises.
(1)
Any officer or agent authorized or empowered to perform
any duty under the provisions of this article is hereby authorized
to go upon any premises to seize for impounding any dog or cat or
dogs or cats which he may lawfully seize and impound when the officer
is in immediate pursuit of the dog or cat or dogs or cats, except
upon the premises of the owner of the dog or cat if the owner is present
and forbids the same.
(2)
No person shall hinder, molest or interfere with anyone
authorized or empowered to perform any duty under this article.
C.
Notice of seizure.
(1)
If any dog or cat so seized wears a collar or harness
having inscribed thereon and attached thereto the name and address
of any person or a registration tag or the owner or the person keeping
or harboring the dog or cat is known, the Chief of Police or the enforcing
official shall forthwith serve on the person whose address is given
on the collar, or on the owner or the person keeping or harboring
the dog or cat, if known, a notice, in writing, stating that the dog
or cat has been seized and will be liable to be offered for adoption
or destroyed if not claimed within 10 days after the service of the
notice. A copy of the notice shall be filed on the same day with the
Borough Clerk or the Chief of Police.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
(2)
Notice of seizure may be served by delivery to the
person on whom it is to be served. In the event that notice cannot
be served on the person, such notice can be effected by leaving it
at the person's usual or last known place of abode or at the address
given on the collar of the dog or cat in question.
(3)
In the alternative, notice can be given by forwarding
by certified mail to the person upon whom it is to be served at his
usual or last known place of abode or at the address given on the
collar of the dog or cat in question.
D.
Disposition of unclaimed animals. The enforcing official
may place unclaimed dogs or cats with some responsible person desiring
a household pet or may cause the destruction of any unclaimed animal
in as humane a manner as possible, under any of the following contingencies:
(1)
When any dog or cat so seized has been detained for 10 days after notice, when notice can be given as set forth in Subsection C, or has been detained for 10 days after seizure when no notice has been given.
(2)
If the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog
or cat has not claimed the dog or cat and paid all expenses incurred
by reason of its collection and detention, payable to the owner of
the pound at a rate not exceeding $1 per day.
(3)
If the dog or cat is unlicensed at the time of the
seizure and the owner or person keeping or harboring the dog or cat
has not produced a license and registration tag for the dog or cat.
No dog, whether licensed or not, shall run at
large within the Borough. A dog shall be deemed to be running at large
when off the premises of its owner or of the person keeping or harboring
such dog, which is not on a leash, tether, chain, rope or the like,
the overall length of which, including the hard grip, shall not exceed
six feet, held by its owner or other person able to control such dog.
[Amended 6-19-2006 by Ord. No. 1540]
No person owning, harboring, keeping or in charge
of any animal shall cause, suffer or allow such animal to soil, defile,
defecate on or commit any nuisance on any common thoroughfare, sidewalk,
passageway, bypath, play area, park or any place where people congregate
or walk; or upon any public property whatsoever, or upon any private
property without the permission of the owner of property. The restriction
of this section shall not apply to that portion of the street lying
between the curblines, which shall be used to curb such animal under
the following restrictions:
A.
The person who so curbs such animal shall immediately
remove all feces deposited by such animal by any sanitary method approved
by the local Health Department.
B.
The feces removed from the aforementioned designated
area shall be disposed of by the person owning, harboring, keeping
or in charge of any animal curbed in accordance with the provisions
of this article in a sanitary manner approved by the local health
authority.
No person shall abandon any dog or cat, no matter
what its age may be, within the Borough.
No dog or cat taken into custody and detained
or impounded shall be sold or otherwise made available for the purpose
of experimentation.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
The provisions of this article shall be enforced
by the Borough's Animal Control Officer.
[Amended 12-16-1996 by Ord. No. 1172]
A.
Except as otherwise provided by N.J.S.A. 4:19-15.1 et seq., any person who violates §§ 122-2, 122-8 and 122-12B of this article shall be liable to a penalty of not less than $5 nor more than $50 for each offense, to be recovered by and in the name of the Director of Health of the State of New Jersey, or by and in the name of the local Board of Health, or by and in the name of the municipality, as the case may be, except that for the first offense in cases of violations of §§ 122-2, 122-8 and 122-12B, the penalty shall be not less than $1 nor more than $50, to be recoverable in the same manner.
B.
For any violation of any other provision of this article,
the maximum penalty, upon conviction thereof, shall be a fine not
exceeding $1,000, or imprisonment for up to 90 days, or a period of
community service not exceeding 90 days, or any combination thereof.
